Extending Insurance Coverage with Medicare Supplement Plans

In 2010, about 50 million people in the United States had Medicare coverage. This comprises 16 percent of the entire country’s population. The significant number of policy holders prompts the government to improve its health insurance programs. Original Medicare policies Part A and B provide coverage for inpatient and outpatient services. However, there are some health needs that are not included in their brackets. Medicare Supplements bridge these gaps. Medicare Supplements are private insurance programs that pay the cost of deductibles, monthly premiums, co-payments, and coinsurances required in Medicare. There are 12 standardized plans that cover specific medical services, named from A to N. Plan M and N are said to provide the best coverage, with the latter offering the biggest discounts of all. When Plan M and N were introduced in 2010, Plans E, H, I, and J were disconnected. They used to cover preventive screening, doctor’s charges, foreign travel emergencies, coinsurance for skilled nursing facilities, and hospital deductibles. Plans I and J were totally dropped when the benefits for prescription drugs were discontinued. However, Plans M and N provide most of the dropped benefits. Medicare Supplement Plan N specifically provides full coverage for hospital coinsurance and co-payments, skilled nursing facility coinsurance, and hospital coinsurance. All of these were originally under the canceled plans. It also offers coverage for the first 3 pints of blood used by a beneficiary per year, as well as foreign emergency travel benefits. This plan even allows continued hospital care after consuming all Medicare hospital benefits. While there is a 30 percent discount for any medical service covered by the insurance program, Medicare Supplement Plan N requires co-payments, such as $20 for doctor’s visits and $50 for emergency room visits. Nonetheless, this is small compared with how much a beneficiary can save from the discounted prices. Plan M, on the other hand, offers 15 percent discount for included health services. Although it has the biggest discounts, Medicare Supplement Plan N does not provide the most comprehensive coverage. Only Plan F offers all benefits, although at higher prices. However, since supplement plans are flexible, beneficiaries can take out multiple policies to extend their coverage further.